From the teachings of David Brandt Berg
THE SIMPLE MESSAGE OF THIS PICTURE IS THAT GOD IS LOVE and HE LOVES YOU! He is your kind and loving Heavenly Father Who personally loves you, His Own dear child, and you are in His hands! He has made this beautiful World as a home for you to live in and enjoy, and He has lovingly given you a wonderful body, mind and heart with which to enjoy it and each other!
BUT SAD TO SAY, SOME PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN THE IDEA THAT GOD IS SOME KIND OF A BIG MONSTER Who follows them around with a big stick, always ready to clobber them! But the Bible says that "God is Love". (1Jn.4:8)--He is loving and forgiving, and the only reason He follows anyone around is in hopes that they will turn around to meet Him, so He can receive them in His open arms!
OTHERS SAY THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD BECAUSE THEY CAN'T UNDERSTAND HIM. Well, no one can ever really understand God!--It's impossible! He says, "As high as the Heavens are above the Earth, so high are My ways above your ways and My thoughts above your thoughts." (Isa.55:8,9) But even though we don't really understand Him, we can look at the beautiful World He has made--the trees, the flowers, the mountains, the sea, the sky--and we can see and feel His Love in the wonderful World He has created!
YOU DON'T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND GOD IN ORDER TO LOVE HIM.--Just like a little baby doesn't need to understand everything about his mother in order to feel and know her love. This is why Jesus said that you have to be like a little child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Mt.18:3)--You just have to accept some things by faith.
JESUS ALSO SAID THAT "GOD IS A SPIRIT." (Jn.4:24) He is all-powerful, all-knowing and everywhere-present, in everything, around everything--everywhere!--He says, "even the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain Me!" (1Kings 8:27) He is not confined to the Earth nor our Solar System nor the Milky Way Galaxy nor even the entire Universe!--Much less some ridiculous little man-made temples, church buildings or so-called "houses of God"! He is all and in all and everything!--Far beyond the limited mind of man and our human understanding!
BUT BECAUSE HE LOVES US and WANTED TO SHOW US HIS LOVE, He sent His Own Son to Earth in the form of a man, Jesus Christ. Jesus was like a picture of God to show us what God is like, and all He did was Love!--He talked about Love and showed Love and lived Love, and finally, in Love, laid down His life for us, to bring life, forgiveness and eternal joy to all who would receive Him.
SO IF YOU FEEL THAT GOD IS FAR FROM YOU, MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T RECEIVED HIS LOVE. There is a hollowness, an empty spot that He has created in each of our hearts that only He can fill, that nothing else can truly satisfy. If you'd like Him to fill that hole in your heart, all you have to do is open your heart to Him, and He'll give you this Love!--Love that will change your whole outlook on life and give you a real uplook!
THIS IS ONE OF THE WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT GOD'S LOVE: When we know that God loves us, we know that everything in our lives is going to be okay, and that He will take care of us! This is faith!--And it's faith in His Love that keeps out worry and fear. "For perfect love casts out all fear!" (1Jn.4:18) Receiving God's Love into your heart is like turning on a light in a dark room--the darkness just has to flee!
THEN YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ANY MORE! You'll know your Heavenly Father loves you and that you and yours--your family, your children, your future, your health--are in His hands. "For not even one sparrow falls to the ground, but your Father knows it. Fear not, therefore: You are of more value than many sparrows!" (Mt.6:25-34; Lk.12:6,7)--He will care for His Own!
THE TWO GREATEST SOURCES OF FEAR and WORRY FOR MOST PEOPLE ARE THE PAST and THE FUTURE--remorse over the past and fear about the future. But the Bible tells us not to worry about either!--"Forget the things that are behind" and "fret not yourself for tomorrow"! (Phil.3:13; Mt.6:34) And for the present, He says, "God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed on Him, because they trust in Him." (Isa.26:3)
JESUS SAYS, "COME UNTO ME, ALL YOU WHO LABOUR and ARE HEAVY LADEN, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST." (Mt.11:28) Again, such rest and trust in the Lord is faith, and you'll find that your faith will grow and be strengthened by reading God's Word. (Rom.10:17) So read the Bible, the Gospels in particular, and let His wonderful Words replace your fears and worries with faith and trust!
AND IF YOU GIVE YOUR WHOLE LIFE TO THE LORD in service to Him, doing your best to follow Jesus and help others, you'll find that He'll do His best for you! He'll not only solve every problem and supply every need, but He will even give you your every desire if you please Him--He's promised it!(Ps.37:4) Your worries and problems then become His worries and problems, and you can just "commit your ways unto the Lord, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you!" (Ps.37:5; 1Pt.5:7)
DO YOU HAVE GOD'S "PERFECT LOVE THAT CASTS OUT ALL FEAR" IN YOUR HEART?--If not, all you have to do is pray and ask Jesus to come into your life! He says, "Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock. If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come into him." (Rev.3:20)
HE LOVES YOU and WILL COME IN RIGHT NOW if you'll sincerely pray this simple prayer: "Lord Jesus, please forgive me for all my sins. I believe that You are the Son of God and that You died for me. I now open the door of my heart and I ask You, Jesus, to please come in and give me Your free Gift of Eternal Life. Help me to love You and to love others by telling them about You and Your Love. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."
WE LOVE YOU! God bless you!
Copyright © 1998 by The Family International